Homecoming: Japan STM support letter 2026

At the last gathering of my church’s goers group, I had the chance to share about the trajectory of my missions journey since coming to know Christ in 2017. When I got to this photo during the section about my personal vision trip to Japan last year, someone made a comment that struck me: “You look like you’re home.”

There is something about physically being in Japan that does have a home-like quality to it for me. I do not know if or when the day might come when I can buy a one-way ticket, but I am grateful to have any opportunity to visit – which includes this October, when I will be going to Japan on a short-term missions trip with my church!

Our team is partnering with our church’s marketplace missionaries who are based in Tokyo, Japan. I first met them through a missions discipleship book club back in 2020, when they moved back to Los Angeles after some years away for the sake of preparing to be sent out as missionaries from our church. Since moving to Japan last August, they have spent the past year settling their family in and laying the foundation for their business venture. We will focus our time together on things like going on prayer walks, doing inner healing ministry for them and their fellow missionaries, and helping with practical tasks for their business. We hope to supply lots of encouragement to them and their local believer friends.

When this STM trip to Japan was first announced to our church, many of my friends and peers assumed that I would of course be going. I am happy to be thought of when it comes to missions in Japan, but going for me was not such a straightforward decision.

First roadblock, my pride. I found myself continually thinking back to an STM trip to Japan that I went on with my church back in 2019. I had just graduated college, now suddenly a fresh “young adult” overnight and trying to find my place in the wider church congregation. One of my non-Korean friends from college ministry who had graduated before me had once said, “Our church is great, but my next church is definitely not going to be a Korean one again.” I did not really understand this while in our college ministry bubble, but this STM trip was the beginning of my feeling culturally othered. I struggled when we were in Japan, a place where I feel culturally embraced, and so much of what we experienced was appreciated primarily through a Korean contextualization by my teammates. My self-righteousness made me want to avoid facing that internal tension again.

I also had mixed feelings about going on yet another STM trip with my church while wanting to seriously pursue a long-term path into missions. I am in the camp that short-term missions can serve a purpose in discipleship and mobilization, but at what point do the returns of going on these annual programmed trips begin to diminish? Would the time and money be better spent elsewhere? These are important questions to consider, but I realized that my motivation behind these questions was my pride. I thought I could better navigate my hopeful long-term path on my own instead of being limited by local church bureaucracies. While this could be possible, I think about the spirit of 1 Corinthians 13 – if I make it to the mission field but refused to address my pride and love my community along the way, then I have missed the heart of God’s invitation to join in His work.

Second roadblock, my fear. It turns out, as only God would have it, that I have a connection to the local church in Japan where our partner missionaries attend – my step-grandma’s brother is the founding pastor! I knew that my step-grandma was a Christian, but I regretfully never got to connect with her on faith before she unexpectedly passed away a few years ago (lesson learned: gospel matters always require urgency), nor did I know that she had family in Japan.

What about this stirs fear in me? This is a stretch, but I feel like a movie character longing to meet their parent for the first time – maybe like Buddy the Elf, or Harry Potter for a more somber example. Granted, the stakes for my situation are not nearly that high and life is not like the movies, but as someone who grew up in a non-Christian home with still no believing immediate family members (yet), discovering this relationship carries a bit of extra weight, including the fear of disappointment I feel hanging over me.

My feelings are real, but they are not reality. I recognize that our fears are given power only by us, and in that same way we have the authority to reclaim that power. And so in the moments when I think about this STM trip and begin to doubt, whether because of my fear or my pride, I turn back to God and ask Him to search my heart and make it clean.

I am still not entirely sure why God opened the door for me to go on this trip, but I am hopeful as I remember a commitment I made at the beginning of this year to draw closer to God’s heart for Japan. So far, this year has looked like:

• Attending a young adult outreach at a nearby local Japanese church and making new friends
• Learning more of Japanese-American history, particularly in my local Los Angeles context
• Taking advantage of my SoCal base to connect with Japanese Christian organizations in the area
• Exploring ministry partnerships in Japan and trying to understand their needs with an open mind
• Committing to regular times of intercession for Japan
• And now, saying yes to this Japan STM trip in faith that God will use this time for something bigger than myself

Thank you for coming alongside me, even when my messy and broken parts are brought into light.

– ジェシカ (Jessica)